Click here to receive The Rolling Maul via e-mail, delivered free to your inbox every Wednesday

Yes I know, I don’t want to talk about next Christmas either. Not until next Christmas, in fact. But I do want to say this: our rugby-watching Christmases may never be the same again. That is the conclusion after the Big Match, and every Guinness Premiership club, even as I write, will surely be scuttling to stage one of their own.

The outcome could be massively advantageous for the promotion of the professional game in England, especially in new areas, and in any other of the home unions where clubs want to do a Harlequins.

So much has been said about the match between Harlequins and Leicester and the occasion last Saturday, attended by 50,000 at Twickenham. It takes a fair bit for us cynical hacks to sit up and take notice, but I absolutely loved the whole thing, from the first firework to the shocking pink shirt of the last Quins replacement.

Everyone I came across, whether they went as a family outing or with a gang of pals, lapped it up. Did you have to be a fan of one of the teams? Of course not. It was an escape from the fireside, an excuse for a drink, a gaudy and enjoyable game, it made money for charity. And to get in cost you a tenner maximum. Good value or what?

The rugby was outstanding – the second half brought some gorgeous attacking play and what better for Quins than to have that thoroughly-dangerous Ugo Monye flying in for a try with nine seconds remaining and the ice-cold Nick Evans kicking a stupendous conversion? I was right behind the kick, and I swear it went absolutely dead centre.

So the challenge is thrown down to the other 11 Premiership clubs and everyone in the Magners League. There is a wonderful chance to tap into the Christmas market, into the urgent need for fresh air post-Christmas, to promote your club and the sport to the skies.

You will get on prime time news as one of the lead items, your marketing department can give it a colossal blast, you can score on a day when there may be no major football. And you can also find new followers to put on your mail-out list, push into new territory while not inconveniencing your loyal fans too much and take back home to your usual stadium a bunch of new converts for the rest of the season and, maybe, for the rest of their sport-watching lives. Phew.

Not every club can do it every Christmas. Only six clubs can be at home for the Christmas match and not every opposing team will be a huge draw card. You’d want to play Leicester - the team everyone loves to beat, loves to hate and therefore, loves to watch, and who bring a giant gang of travelling fans - or anyone from the top four. Not every club has a giant stadium across the road, as have Harlequins. Some clubs would have to balance distance to the nearest big stadium.

The gesture has to be extravagant, massive and bold. There is no point your lot hiring a stadium 80 miles away which holds 12,000 but no-one should pass up a great opportunity just because it is mildly inconvenient. It was the grandiosity of the Quins idea that drew the crowds. The Guinness Premiership could probably have three major Christmas crackers every year that would need to be planned with the fixture computer and rotated geographically with care.

So consult our ready guide for the prospects of your team staging the Huge One in 2009 and afterwards. Does your club have the bottle? The vision? They said that Quins were nuts, talking about a 50,000 crowd. They had the vision. Next time the Quins are talking 70,000. Well, are you going to mock? You will not if you were at pink-flecked Twickers last week.

Let us know: do you fancy your club’s suggested Christmas extravaganza?